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Health Services Go Online With Launch of Telesurgery |
| Source: |
Business Daily |
| Source Date: |
Friday, September 09, 2011 |
| Focus: |
Electronic and Mobile Government, Citizen Engagement, Internet Governance
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| Country: |
Kenya |
| Created: |
Sep 14, 2011 |
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When Damaris Njeri's kidneys failed and she needed specialised surgery, no local doctor could have provided that and she was left with only two options. The doctor advised that she could visit three hospitals -- one in India, another in South Africa and a third one in the US. And because the facilities needed are available in local hospitals, she could fly in a specialist to perform the surgical procedure in Kenya.
For a lady of modest means, that would cost a lot of money and time. But with a new technology being introduced in Kenya, Njeri's case would have been easier to resolve. The technology brings together cutting edge IT, medical and broadcasting technologies to harness complex input from almost every medical field regardless of location or time zone to a single operating room.
All that is needed is a dedicated interconnection platform, advanced tertiary surgical technologies and special broadcasting services. Beyond that, all it needs is a specialist and a patient and everything else is possible. Welcome to the new world of telesurgery, which according to Saeed Samnakay, consultant urological surgeon at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, would in time revolutionalise medicine as we know it today.
"With these technologies, we will cut down a lot of wastage in time, energy and resources and still deliver top quality services like we have been unable to hitherto," he says. One such well documented shortage in Kenya is in cancer treatment. About 18,000 known cancer patients have to share between them only 15 oncologists. That is why telesurgery could be such a welcome innovation since the specialists could handle many cases at a given time.
The Business Daily Thursday witnessed a urological procedure at the Aga Khan University Hospital under the direction of a South African based specialist from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Upper Hill, Nairobi. That means a world of difference to those suffering from rare conditions that may require complex correctional or treatment procedures.
Kenya has inadequate specialists in neurology, nephrology, cardiology and orthopedics, among other medical experts. Patients like Ms Njeri have had to travel thousands of miles and spend a fortune on accommodation, travel, medical bills and consultation.
But with telesurgery, patients have a higher chance of survival because of the timeliness of the treatment and patients straining less.
Dipen Rajani, director at Asterisk, a medical technologies supplier, who facilitated the demonstration, says it is a matter of time before all medical services go online. He says Kenya has largely been left behind because of unreliable telecommunication network. But not anymore. "Already in countries like India and the US, almost everything from diagnostics to prescription and surgery is online," says Rajani. "When people fall sick in the US, they check themselves to an online clinic where everything is done without physical contact."
He also says the technology is evolving fast and the uptake in Kenya is satisfactory. "The Aga Khan and Nairobi hospitals are fully integrated to the global medical specialty. There are several others but the technology is still quite costly for small hospitals to acquire yet."
Other related technologies Asterisk supply include camera diagnostics equipment for treatment of internal organs without incision. "When somebody has a tumor for example, treatment by open surgery could further weaken their systems, which in most cases have been fatal," says Samnakay. He said demand for prostate and urinary tract treatment, his speciality, is high as lifestyles take toll on health.
Medical students would also benefit from that technology since they could witness or participate in such procedures.
"People are now starting to enjoy the full benefits of an interconnected world," says Kris Senanu, managing director at Access Kenya whose fibre-optic network facilitated the telesurgery. "We are happy to be part of such a great innovation which will no doubt enhance the quality and value of medical care in our hospitals."
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Health Services Go Online With Launch of Telesurgery When Damaris Njeri's kidneys failed and she needed specialised surgery no local doctor could have provided that and she was left with only two options The doctor advised that she could visit three hospitals -- one in India another in South Africa and a third one in the US And because the facilities needed are available in local hospitals she could fly in a specialist to perform the surgical procedure in Kenya
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